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Page xiv - As the emphasis laid on different syllables differs a good deal in different localities, very sparing use has been made of accents. They have only been employed where the emphasis to be placed upon a syllable is very pronounced or specially liable to be misplaced.

Page 15 - ... he did not see the man' the later is more idiomatic. In the case of a negative interrogation the second ba is frequently omitted ; ba ya and ba ya yi are usually abbreviated to bai : ba na is abbreviated to ban thus ban sani ba 'l do not knowV' 'A note of the pronunciation of Hausa

Page 20 - ... Time is generally reckoned by the seasons of the year, which are as follows : — funturu, or lokachin The cold season, beginning about dari December or January ; the season of the harmattan wind rani The hot season after the conclusion of the cold or harmattan, beginning about March bazara...

Page viii - Dr Schon may justly be regarded as the pioneer of Hausa study. He learnt the language from some freed slaves in Sierra Leone, and afterwards took part in the Government expedition which ascended the R. Niger in 1841. Unfortunately he was never able to penetrate into the Hausa country ; and, as he afterwards spoke of himself as having reduced to writing a hitherto unwritten language, he was apparently unaware at the time...

Page 15 - ba ... ba. It is placed before and after the verb or the sentence which it negatives, thus we may have ba ya gani ba mutum or ba ya gani mutum ba 'he did not see the man' the later is more idiomatic. In the case of a negative interrogation the second ba is frequently omitted ; ba ya and ba ya yi are usually abbreviated to bai : ba na is abbreviated to ban thus ban sani ba 'l do not knowV...